In August 2012, the Seidu family had to cope with the bad harvest. Like many farming families in northern Ghana, they had to adopt the ‘one-zero-one’ strategy for the children and the ‘zero-zero-one’ strategy for themselves. ‘One’ represents a meal, ‘zero’ is no meal. So during the lean season, their four children had breakfast in the morning, nothing at midday, and a meal in the evening.

Butana is a dry plateau in northern Sudan, east of the river Nile. Covering 65,000 square kilometres, less than 10% can be described as ‘woodland’ in the vaguest sense of the word, and even these trees are disappearing rapidly. The Butana Integrated Rural Development Project began in 2008 with the aim of supporting the livelihoods of poor family farmers by strengthening their resilience in the face of recurrent droughts. And improving tree cover was a key means of achieving this.

About 23 years ago, in Santiago del Estero, a province in the north of Argentina, the Peasant Movement of Santiago del Estero Via Campesina (MOCASE -VC) was established. One of its leaders is Deo Sumaj, an impressive peasant woman of the Vilela indigenous people. “Peasant family farming could provide many answers to the crises that humanity faces.”

Food fairs are an important tool and space to promote food sovereignty as they take place in local public spaces and within people’s own socio-cultural settings. One excellent example was a food fair in Ghana, organised by the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD). Women farmers exhibited traditional crops and foods, emphasising their importance for local and national food and nutrition security. The fair reminded community and political leaders of the value of neglected traditional foods. Some years later, it can be seen how this and subsequent food fairs helped to ensure the improved integration of traditional foods and agroecological farming into national food security plans.

Women have been the nurturers of the family and providers of food on land, while men have been providers from the sea. Children are expected to help their parents and other elders in their different tasks. This is the story of the Paulauan traditional family farming system in the western most regions of the Caroline Islands in the Republic of Palau.

The right to food sovereignty is a part of the Plurinational State of Bolivia’s constitution, but what does this actually mean for family farmers? The truth is that many people in rural areas are far from having access to adequate food and nutrition, with 37% of children under five reported to be suffering from stunting caused by malnutrition. Amongst the institutions and initiatives that aim to improve food security and sovereignty, the cuy (or guinea pig) project stands out for the inroads it has made towards improving food and nutrition at the family level.

‘Land grabbing’ has grabbed people’s attention in recent years, but this phenomenon is not restricted to developing countries. In the heart of Europe, young German farmers like Paula Giola are also struggling to retain and regain access to farmland.

Some may view indigenous communities as being conservative and backwards. However, the Kabekwa in Costa Rica show that such communities can be adaptable and innovative. In response to changing circumstances, this community has been adapting its farming practices constantly, benefiting from it in multiple ways.

In a first part, this publication gives technical feedbacks and analysis on Sustainable Rice Based Farming Systems in the Philippines. The book concludes that Organic farming is undeniably, one of the best broad-based development strategies that can be employed to revitalize the agriculture sector. With that said and given that most Southeast Asian countries are dependent on rice, effective organic rice farming can help address not only rural poverty but food security woes across the region.

In a second part, it highlights the main results of a regional exchange on agroecology that took place in the Philippines between South East Asian members of la Via Campesina (from Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Timor Leste).

Whoever thought that agroecology is only gaining momentum as an agricultural practice, science and movement in Latin America, is wrong. A two day conference in June 2013 clearly depicted the richness of agroecology in Europe- as well as the challenges and opportunities.

Initiated by scientific network ENSSER, the meeting convened politicians, activists, officials, seed breeders, a small number of farmers and interested citizens. The variety of initiatives that were shared, on farming with nature and on farmer-consumer/citizen initiatives in Europe, was quite overwhelming.

What stood out was the consensus on the need to move from a ‘productivist’ to a ‘sufficiency’ paradigm, to cross-fertilise agroecology with food sovereignty and to co-create knowledge, especially with farmers.